Jets lock up DeMelo with 4-year, $12M deal

The Winnipeg Jets signed defenseman Dylan DeMelo to a four-year, $12-million extension, the team announced Wednesday.

DeMelo, 27, was set to become an unrestricted free agent on Friday.

Winnipeg acquired DeMelo from the Ottawa Senators ahead of the trade deadline in February. The 6-foot-1 blue-liner recorded 10 assists while averaging 20:09 of ice time over 59 games with the Senators and Jets in 2019-20.

Despite not scoring a goal last season, DeMelo has had a positive impact on his team's offense over the previous two campaigns, according to HockeyViz's isolated five-on-five impact (2018-19 on the left, 2019-20 on the right).

DeMelo's defensive impact was considerably better in 2019-20 (right) than in 2018-19 (left). However, he played the entire 2018-19 campaign for the last-place Senators, who were the league's worst defensive club. (Blue zones, negatives are good in the defensive end):

DeMelo boasted favorable possession numbers last season, as well, owning a Corsi For of 53.1% and an expected goals of 53.9%, according to Natural Stat Trick.

Extending DeMelo is a big step for a Jets team that lost the majority of its blue-line talent last offseason. Winnipeg has just over $11 million in projected cap space for 2020-21 but currently has just 15 players on its roster, according to CapFriendly.